The use by campers and hikers of elevated sleeping surfaces is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,401,846, which issued to Wiles on Dec. 27, 1921, discloses an elevated camper""s bed to a hammock design. Elevated sleeping surfaces for campers are similarly disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,902, which issued to Hall et al. on Jan. 11, 1977, (hammock device with a sleeping bag and tent attached); U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,917, which issued to Mojica on Feb. 7, 1978, (hammock device with a canopy); U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,883, which issued to Malone on Jan. 5, 1982, (suspended tent with rain guard device); U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,542, which issued to Cohen on Mar. 23, 1982, (suspended shelter); U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,465, which issued to Lyons, Jr. on Dec. 17, 1991, (suspendable sleeping bag); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,021, which issued to Snodgrass on Aug. 31, 1993, (suspended sleeping surface tent where base rests upon the ground). As such, the basic concept of camping and recreation based elevated sleeping surfaces and their use are disclosed.
There have been attempts made in the prior art to increase comfort for wilderness sleeping by raising the sleeping devices off the ground. Primarily, this has been done by the use of hammocks which are supported by tying the sleeping devices to trees at two end points. The stability of said hammocks is achieved by supporting the occupant in a sack-like manner. The user must actively balance himself in the hammock and maintain a modicum of an active sense of balance even during sleep. The sleeping position is primarily restricted to sleeping on the back. The sleeping posture is uncomfortably curled by the sag of the hammock. Any attempt to tension the hammock to be more level, taut, and firm results in dramatically decreased stability. When screening and tenting are added to create shelter, the two-point hammock becomes very difficult to use and, in the event of an imbalance accident, likely to find the user upside down in the unit and tangled in the tenting.
While there is unpatented art sleeping surfaces designed to include high tree use which gain stability by using four attachment points, this art neither teaches or claims a tensioning device or design for flat, taut, bed-like sleeping, but rather cradles the user in the same sack-like manner of support as does the two point hammock design. This art is essentially a sleeping surface comprised of a sheet held at all four corners.
Lastly, the popular, xe2x80x9cNewellxe2x80x9d hammock, U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,720, is typical of the several so-called xe2x80x9cJungle Hammocksxe2x80x9d disclosed above and shares the same disadvantages as noted above. The sleeping surfaces of the prior art are uncomfortable and unstable.
While each of these prior art patents disclose suspended sleeping surfaces for camping and recreational purposes which fulfill their respective particular objectives and requirements, and are most likely quite functional for their intended purposes, it will be noticed that none of the prior art cited disclose an apparatus and/or method that allow a user the comfort of sleeping suspended above the ground without the discomfort of the cramped and unnatural position with which a hammock places the users body, and/or the discomfort and danger of sleeping on an unstable surface. As such, there apparently still exists the need for new and improved suspended sleeping surface to maximize the benefits to the user and minimize the risks of injury from its use. In this respect, the present invention disclosed herein substantially fulfills this need.
In view of the foregoing limitations inherent in the known types of hammocks, suspended sleeping surfaces and methods of use thereof now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an apparatus and method of use of a hammock that has been designed by an avid outdoors man and camper in an environmentally challenging setting which are improvements which are patently distinct over similar devices and methods which may already be patented or commercially available. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a field designed apparatus and method of use that incorporates the present invention. There are many additional novel features directed to solving problems not addressed in the prior art.
To attain this the present invention generally comprises a multi-point stabilized suspended sleeping surface with an easy to use tensioning device, and its detailed fundamental concepts, generating both stable and comfortable applications and the technology needed to apply it.
Several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
unlike the prior art sleeping surfaces utilizing a hammock design, the present invention provides a film, cot-like sleeping surface. Also, unlike a cot this invention does provides a stable sleeping surface without a full frame and the subsequent weight and ungainly structure this creates for the backpacker while trying to hike while carrying the device;
unlike prior art suspended sleeping surfaces such as hammocks and covered hammocks, the present invention provides the stability of more than two attachment points spread around the perimeter of the unit and under tension so that the user need not concern himself with balance and may sleep soundly in any position or move about in their sleep;
the present invention provides the opportunity to level the sleeping platform, regardless of ground grade, by adjusting the height of the various attachment points which facilitate the suspension of the sleeping platform and furthermore prior art two-point attached hammocks may allow for adjustment of the level on the ends, but lateral leveling of the sleeping surface is not possible insofar as stability depends on allowing the center to sag far below level under occupant load;
the present invention also provides for ease of set up to the devices designed dimensions and shape in what is a typically asymmetrical forest tree settings by the pullied self-adjustment of the device""s attachment lines. While prior art suspended sleeping platforms of a hammock design need not only two trees properly spaced for set up, the self-adjustment properties of the present invention make it possible to locate almost as many suitable sites for set up of the devices as may be found for setting up two-point hammocks;
the present invention further provides a firm base on which to erect a tent and screen shelter designed for it according to the styles, principles, and developments of modern wilderness/backpacking tent design. This shelter may be designed to include dry storage under the sleeping surface without the need for a floor waterproofing or heavier floor cloth, and may be tightly fixed to its base and guyed down to the unit""s supporting lines for inclement wind and weather;
the present invention also provides an advancement in ecological protection by eliminating the need for trenching and other disturbances of the forest floor at the camping site;
The present invention further provides, in using the Tree-Saver Bands of the design, for ecological protection of the trees used to support the unit by protecting their bark from the damage of having rope under tension directly attached to the them as do the prior art hammocks; and
the present invention further provides a sturdy hiking stick to the user when not set up for sleeping use thus adding to the combined practical value of the invention for a packweight-conscious sport, reducing the back carried weight at the same time it provides another essential and favored element of the sport, a hiking stick. No prior art anticipating this advantageous combination.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.